A 20-year-old man from Hebei province was detained and beaten by several people for 20 days. He lost 30 kilograms in weight and died the day after he was rescued.

From 3rd February this yearspring Festival Less than half a month later, Xiaopeng (pseudonym), a 20-year-old man from Guantao County, Handan City, Hebei Province, died at home. Around January 10, several people took Xiaopeng to a hotel on the pretext of demanding the outstanding money. During this, at least eight people beat and insulted him. On January 30, police rescued Xiaopeng. On the evening of 2 February, Xiaopeng was sent home and died at home on the morning of 3 February. Later, the public prosecutor’s office prosecuted five of them on suspicion of illegal detention. The case opened at the Guantou County People’s Court on November 9 and was adjourned shortly after.

Red Star News reported that the prosecutor’s indictment revealed that Feng and others took the boy to several hotels in Guantou County under the pretext of collecting debts and continued to restrict his personal freedom. During this period, he was beaten and humiliated several times and was not allowed to eat normally. The detention and torture involved eight people, three of whom were under the age of 18 at the time of the incident.

Xiaopeng’s mother, Ms. Li, said that she divorced her child’s father in his early years, and her son did not continue his education after graduating from high school. Sometimes he was at home and sometimes he was not at home for several days. She did not know that her son owed money outside the country, nor did she know the man who had detained him. On January 30, the police informed him that his son was involved in the case. When they sent him home on the evening of 2 February, his body was already skin and bones and had many scars.

Ms Lee said her son was about 190 centimeters tall and weighed only 30 kilograms when he died. Xiaopeng once told him about being locked in a hotel and tortured, but he did not want to seek medical treatment because he was afraid of being beaten again if he went to the hospital.

The procuratorial organ reported that the judicial assessment determined that the child died from tuberculosis combined with interstitial myocarditis, which caused acute respiratory and circulatory failure; His own illness was the root cause of death, and the beatings during detention and the inability to eat normally also played a certain role in promoting death.

The prosecutor charged five of them with illegal detention, including two adults and three minors. He believed that the defendant unlawfully deprived others of their personal liberty and caused death and should be held criminally responsible. The case was adjourned soon after it opened on 9 November. The victim’s lawyer believes that it is still necessary to clarify whether Xiaopeng really owes money, and whether the behavior of the person involved amounts to the crime of illegal detention or intentional infliction of injury.

According to reports, after contacting the relevant staff of the Guantao County Public Security Bureau, the Guantao County People’s Court and the Chengguan Police Station of the People’s Procuratorate, they said that they could not disclose further information.